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Dairy Debate

Nov 16, 2009

Listening this week, there was a story from Tennesse regarding the nutrition value of milk. As someone who has always loved milk, I have some theories. I would love to know if you can find some answers.
Has the nutritional value been seriously degraded by the ultra-pasteurization? Is there any connection to the increase in children who are allergic to milk products and the recent move to ultra-pasteurization? There is no true improvement in shelf life - I have to throw it away due to getting old (slimy or chuncky) long before the stamped date on the jug, often with 10 days of "shelf" life remaining! Are fewer children drinking milk because of the taste of it (more bland)? Why are so many children now having so many food allergies? School menus have finally started to improve again, after a 20-year move away from nutrition and towards vending machines. Now, the menus are being limited by what ingredients are safe for those who suffer from allergies. Can you really ever de-sensitize a child? Would we all be better off if the ultra-pasteurization was discontinued? I love your program.
Mary Mulligan

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Anonymous11/16/2009 08:35 AM

Please send this to Mary. Mary, it seems to me that your largest concern with milk is milk allergies. However, science has shown that milk allergies are a very small, minimal issue, and are usually overstated. There are many theories out there for the excessive amounts of food allergies existing now, one which is that science has improved to the point where we can test and identify allergies that much easier. We can test even 'weak' allergies now, that most likely do not cause problems with our health. I personally think children don't drink milk because our society lives off of caffeine and sugar. And milk is neither, really. I don't know the answers to ultra-pasteurization, but my feeling is that ultra-pasteurization has no adverse affect on milk products, otherwise processors would not sell a product that would struggle to sell at retailers.